Esophageal cancer has a high mortality rate. China is one of the countries with the highest esophageal cancer incidence. There are two main forms of esophageal cancers, namely esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. Squamous cell carcinoma accounts for 90% of the esophageal cancers. The main cause of death for esophageal cancer is metastasis; esophageal cancer metastasizes commonly to lungs, liver and bones. Despite the effort in developing treatments for esophageal cancer, due to the complexity of metastasis in esophageal cancer, existing treatments had not been promising. Thus, treatment of esophageal cancer remains a difficult issue.
Twenty-one Garcinia species are found in China, and located throughout southern provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan. Research shows Garcinia is an important source in search for anti-tumor drug candidates.